Traders embrace recycling message at market

Fish guts and old meat sound like matter best suited to a swift binning.

But such off-cuts are getting a second life from Prahran Market’s comprehensive recycling program. Figures from July show major reductions in the South Yarra market’s environmental impact.

Water use has almost halved in five years, dropping from 45 mega-litres in 2005/06 to 25 mega litres in 2009/10, about the same volume as 400 home swimming pools. Electricity use has dropped by a quarter.

At the more offensive end of things, about 180 tonnes of fish offal and chicken waste is now processed into animal foods, fertilisers and oils each year.